The Scattered Pages: A Slender Based Fanfiction
by sophieamber3
Summary: In the first sequence of a short horror story based on the popular "Slender Man" thread, young Danny is pulled into a world of mystery, disappearances and questions without answers when a new girl by the name of Astra, shares his horrors and dreams of a pale tall man chasing them trying to take them. Will they figure it out and put an end to chaos.?


**1**

"You're making the biggest mistake in your life, Danny," spat the angry teacher of his class, Mrs. Waters. She promptly pushed her tiny glasses up her crooked nose, quickly peering into the silent class were listening attentively as what had just happened, the very reason that Danny was standing outside the classroom with Mrs. Waters, was purely interesting. She shut the door tight, so that they couldn't hear a thing. Her gaze crossed between that of Danny, who was zoned out and not even paying attention to her; she sighed, and the principle approaching up the quiet hall with an unfamiliar face. The principle however, was very different to Mrs Waters. His name was Mr. Patterson. He was tall and middle aged, and very friendly, easygoing and plain. Mrs. Waters was an old fashioned fuss pot. She would often yell at Danny for daydreaming in class and falling asleep while other pupils went unknown and discreetly texted on their phones and threw things around the class. Danny however stared into the ground, following the boring tiled pattern of the tiles in the corridor seeing if he could count how many them were out of sheer boredom and dis amusement of the situation. He had been as it were, standing outside his classroom for falling asleep in class yet again, but this time as he awoke he screamed at the teacher and started yelling. He yelled things such as, "Don't look or it takes you". This circled the mind of Mrs. Waters as she wondered what on earth was happening to the poor boy. Mr Patterson interrupted her line of thoughts however when he approached with the young accompaniment.

"Mrs. Waters, we have a new pupil," he smiled and noticed Danny, who slowly peered up at the young girl and fell out of his trance and felt the hairs stand up on his neck and his heart started racing. Somehow, seeing this girl, his memories of the dream that he had momentarily had, the reaction he had, that will probably leave his school with something to pin to him for the rest of his time there, had all came back. She stared at him deep in the eyes, her pale skin and deep blue eyes intimidating him unintentionally.

"This is Astra," he announced,"She's just transferred here from Canada."

"Hello Astra, I'm sure you will be a great, hard working pupil," smiled Mrs. Waters, a smile that was welcoming and warm, something that Danny never received from Mrs. Waters.

"I won't be here for long," she traced slowly as if she had said those words far too many times before.  
"What do you mean Astra?" asked Mrs. Waters with a nervous laugh of confusion.  
"Because, I move around a lot. It's bad to stay in the same place for too long, I only lived in my last house for a month, and the one before that, two weeks." she sighed. Mrs. Water's eyebrows knit together. Mrs. Waters and Mr Patterson exchanged worried glances.

He bent down to Astra as if he was speaking to a little child, "I'm sure you'll be very happy here Astra, there's nothing to worry about," he assured her and turned to Danny, "Danny, why don't show Astra around quickly?"

Danny displayed a look of turbulence. He didn't quite understand why he was being told to give Astra a quick tour in the middle of class, I mean, he was already in trouble. Why would the teacher's trust him with such a task? It was in fact because Mr. Patterson could already gather the look of stress on Mrs. Water's face when she was lecturing Danny before he arrived at the scene with Astra. He could already tell the woman didn't get her night's sleep and was still being pestered by her ex husband, Barney. Mr. Patterson, who had always had a fond liking for her, wanted to treat her to a coffee and help her with her problems, but she had always brushed it off saying she was fine and he knew having an intimate relationship with a colleague like Mrs. Waters would be inappropriate.

"Now?" Danny asked.

"Yes, now." he said firmly and gestured for them to go.

Danny sighed and started to walk, Astra quickly followed him. He could hear the brief beginnings off a long conversation between the two teachers about finances and problems. He shook his head and sighed.

"Why were you outside the class room?" she asked quietly, taking in her new surroundings as they walked.

"I, well...I was getting yelled at by the teacher," he hesitated. He didn't want to tell her that he was having a nightmare about a strange figure chasing him.

"What for?" she persisted.

"Uhm, I was yelling at her."

"Why?"

Danny groaned, and didn't reply. Astra understood from his reaction that he didn't want to talk about it.

"I'm sorry, I'm just nervous I guess.." she trailed off quickly.

"It's fine."

They turned the corner quietly and Danny began, "This is the cafe-

He felt a tight grip on his hand and turned to see Astra frozen in place, eyes widened and staring ahead. He looked up to see a tall pale figure standing before them, in a black suit with a smooth blank face and large tendrils pouring out of his sides. He was about eight feet tall and was surrounded with mist, in fact the entire corridor was. Danny's jaw fell open. What was this thing? Danny knew exactly, because this figure that stood towering before him, was the same one he had been running from in his dreams, the very reason he reacted the way he did in class today, it was because of the thing that if they didn't run now, would surely get them.

Neither of them said a word, he felt Astra's grip tighten and she turned and sprinted holding onto Danny who was forced to run with her, they ran back the way Astra came and through the doors, ignoring the secretary telling them to stop. They ran out of the school building and along the grass and came to the edge of a forest, but Astra didn't stop. Danny caught a glimpse on the edge of his eye of something black behind him but he wasn't foolish enough to look back. There was a large lake ahead and Astra sprinted to it even quicker, Danny who was out of breathe already not questioning, just running. They didn't stop and he swallowed hard when he realised they weren't stopping for this lake.

"Wait!" he gasped. She didn't even acknowledge him and just ran straight into the lake, water splashing up around them completely soaking them but they didn't stop until they was in deep enough in that they had to tread the water to stay above it. When they glanced around they saw the figure standing still on the very edge of the lake watching them.

Danny was gasping for air and splashing the cool water all around them, "What are you thinking?!" he screamed.

"Why is that thing watching us?!" he cried.

"Shh, it's okay, he can't get us now." she soothed him. He was terribly confused.

"Astra, what is that thing?!" he cried.  
"I don't know." she replied, staring at the figure in the distance, still standing there.

"I need you to explain to me why the thing chasing me in my dreams, is actually for one, real, chasing you too, and why we are somehow in the middle of a lake after running out of school and watching it stare at us?!" he cried, getting stressed again. He realised after what he had just said, that it was completely ridiculous.

"I'll explain, but not now," she turned to him and smiled, a strange thing to do in this situation, though it seemed familiar to her but while she stared into his eyes full of fear and confusion her smile faded. They both glanced around again and the figure was gone, as was the mist that followed them.  
"Are we safe now?" he asked, shaking and trembling in the water.

"Only for now," she said softly, "let's swim back."  
Once they got back onto the bank, they started through the forest they had sprinted through before. Danny noticed it was a lot bigger than when he and Astra bolted through it. There was silence between the two that had only been acquainted half an hour ago. He listened to the crunching they made walking over pine cones and leaves. The birds whistled in the trees contently though there was an uncomfortable feeling being in a dark forest. The trees resembled the figure they saw very well and it was hard not to be paranoid, so Danny had enough.

Astra stopped after she noticed the only crunches she heard were her own. She turned around to see Danny, quietly sobbing to himself and sitting on a pile of logs on the forest floor.

"Dann-"

"No, you said you would explain, so do it. No further I want an answer. I may even go insane, please Astra," he begged.

She sighed and smiled reassuringly at him, and walked over and sat in front of him.

"Okay, Danny you must listen to me, I can't explain here. It's too dangerous, let's go get a coffee and talk about it there where we are not alone," she explained, and she reached forward and hugged him gently and grabbed his hand. They both stood up and he nodded through tears.

"Danny, I'm afraid I don't know the way," she laughed. He smiled at the light hearted laugh she just let out and felt a little better.  
"I know a great place not that far from here actually," he grinned and they set off, leaving the forest behind.

**2**

"It's a good thing it's summer, our clothes would still have been soaking," giggled Astra as she took a sip of her steaming hot black coffee and sighed with content, it was good coffee, she might have even got refills.

"Well, their damp to be exact," he laughed back at her and sipped his own coffee too.

A look of seriousness dominated his face, he remembered why his clothes were damp, "Astra, how did you know where the lake was?" he asked.

She stopped for a second and zoned out a little, "I didn't," she muttered, "I dreamt about it.."

He looked at her, "Do you dream about.." he trailed off.

"Yes, all the time," she sighed regrettingly.

"Me too," he returned, taking a large gulp of his coffee.

"Have you ever seen him before today, apart from dreams?" she asked him hopefully.  
"No," he said, "I didn't even think he was real."

"He's the reason we move so much, he's always been after me. When I was eight years old I had a little brother called Emmett. He was five at the time, and we always used to fight. We were playing in our back garden when he went missing. You see, he was playing with his favourite toy, his little red wind up fire truck; oh how he loved it. I was across the garden, having a tea party with my dolls. He wound his truck up as usual and let it go, he was watching it and then he started me because he let out a loud noise. I asked him what was wrong and he said his truck went through a hole in the fence. I told him to wait while I got Mum and Dad, and when I came back he was gone." she took a sip of her coffee, tears welling in her eyes.

"How did you know it was..you know, it," he asked softly.

"I found his truck out in the forest that we lived beside about a week later." she said quietly, "Since that happened I have always dreamed about that thing taking him and taking me too, and then I started to see him. My parents thought he was lost in the forest and often went out to look for him, the police were searching too. One day my Dad went out looking for him and my Mum stayed home with me, she was cooking the dinner and I was playing outside, and I decided to look through the tiny hole in the bottom of the fence that Emmett's truck went through, then I saw him through the hole. He was standing looking at me, from the forest. I screamed and ran inside. I was terrified but my mum didn't believe me, she just said that I was worrying about Emmett," she cried.

"That's horrible," he said and he tried to comfort her, " It'll be fine, you have me,"

"Thank you Danny, I don't know what would have happened if you weren't there with me today," she smiled.  
"Anyway, why the water?" he asked calmingly.

"Oh," she sniffed and drunk the remains of her coffee, "Well, he doesn't run, it's like he teleports after you. Weird right? Anyway, one time I was on the beach with my family in summer and I was walking up the pier alone while my parents were sun bathing. I was about twelve at the time so they trusted me. I saw him again and I ran up the pier because he was behind me. I could see with the corner of my eye that he was getting closer without even moving and my only hope was the water, I jumped in and when I swam up the the surface of the water, he was just standing there at the edge looking at me. I even swam along the water and closer to where my parents were and he just watched me. He couldn't get me in the water. I don't know what it is with the water, but he just can't get you if you're in it"

"That's a good thing at least well," he smiled at her.

"Yeah I guess so," she smiled back.

"What now?" asked Danny, glancing around the coffee shop at the adults and business men.  
"I'm afraid I have to go, I can't stay here I need to go," she sighed.  
"What do you tell your parents?" he asked.

"It's complicated, they don't believe in _him_,"

"Then how do you guys move so much?"

"Financial difficulties and other things," she murmured.

"What?" he was confused.

"Well, my Dad is always at the pub. He comes home drunk all the time, we get so many complaints when he starts fights and stuff we get kicked out, then we have to move to another neighbourhood and we usually have to get a cheap house to rent, since he spends all our money on drink."

"That's terrible, why are you and your mother still with him?"

"Because, he's trying to stop. My mum thinks he will change. She's an idiot. I can't stay with them any longer, the encounters with that thing have been getting more frequent. I want to leave them."

"You're going to leave them now," Danny said slowly, watching the coffee remains in his cup, "With me."

"You're willing to do that?" she questioned."

"Yes, I'm stuck in this now, and I always have been, I was having dreams about that thing even when I was little but I never remembered them until now," he muttered, "so I'm going. We're going."

"That means a lot, and I'm sorry for dragging you into this." she frowned.

"You didn't. It was only a matter of time before I saw it on my own and then I wouldn't have know what to do, so I'm glad I have you with me," he smiled.

They were interrupted by a strange man wearing rags and vintage specs. He had a crazy hairstyle and he looked as if he came from a mental asylum.

"You kids aren't safe here." he snapped, looking around him frantically and jerking.

"Uhm, do we know you?" questioned Astra nervously.

He snarled at her, "Always watching…"

"Who?" asked Danny.

"Him! The tall one, the one they run from! The one that takes the children and never gives them back! Run away! He always gets you!" he yelled, catching the attention of some nearby customers.

"Uhm, I think you have us mistaken for someone else, we better be going now, come on Astra," said Danny and he grabbed Astra to exit the shop.

"Don't look or it takes you!" he shouted.

As they walked back to the car they could see the stranger being thrown out of the shop moments after and yelling and screaming.

They drove past him and heard him spit, "Your girl will be the first one to go! Then you!"

**3**

Danny tapped impatiently on his steering wheel whilst waiting on Astra to get the supplies from her house. According to her, her Dad was at the pub and her mother had went to get him. She glanced at his watch, it was 10:03pm and dark outside. There was a thick line of trees on the other side of the road that mimicked a dark green colour and pitch black in between. The branches of the trees were crooked and long, it made him think of that_ thing_ from earlier. He shivered at the thought, and couldn't take his eyes of the forest because he thought that when he did, he would be taken like Astra's little brother. He felt bad for her, losing someone so important at such a young age. Between thinking about that and watching the forest like a hawk, when Astra banged on the car window to alert him she was ready, he nearly jumped out of his skin.  
"Don't do that!" he yelled, feeling foolish and embarrassed.

"Sorry," she laughed. She set the gear in the back of the truck that Danny drove, which would have enough space for them to sleep on anyway and then she hopped in. It was cold even though it was summer. Danny revved up the engine and they set off, never to return again.

Danny broke the silence by playing the radio. _"It has been reported that two children have gone missing in the past 24 hours. Reports say that the children were playing in a playground with their school classmates and they were never to be seen again. Maisey Adams, 4, and Jack Wills, 5, were in their school playground playing with friends when their teacher got an urgent called on her telephone and rushed in to get it, when she returned the children had gone-"_

"Enough of that," said Danny, looking at Astra consolingly. She smiled at him thankfully and relaxed a little.

"What about your family Danny?" she probed gently.

He exhaled and swallowed a hard lump in his throat, "I don't have any," he anguished.  
"What happened to them?" she asked gently.

"Like most of the things that happen to me, I don't know. I came home one day from school and they were gone, just like that. No note, no nothing. I didn't tell anyone though. I didn't want to be put in a children's home. I was eleven when they just left. I mean, they seemed fine most of the time. Then all of a sudden they disappeared. I don't know how or why, and I haven't seen them since. I found their stash of money, it was untouched, so I carefully used to money to survive on my own, and I got a job when I was fourteen delivering newspapers which was good too."

"I'm so sorry Danny," she had withdrawn. She looked out glimpsed out her window that was blurry with condensation and she wiped it. It was pitch black outside and she much preferred it steamed up when she couldn't see.

"It's fine," he assured her, "All they ever did was yell anyway," he began to laugh a little at the thought.

"Oh I see," she joined in.

"Aren't you sad about leaving your parents?" he muttered.

"Not really, it's safer for them," Astra said.

She fumbled with her hoodie sleeves.

"What's the matter?" asked Danny soothingly.

"I can't stop thinking about that man in the shop today," she stated, "He really scared me Danny."

"Don't worry about him, he's just some crazy."

"Yeah but, how did he know about that thing?"  
"I don't know."

"I'm scared, what if we end up like him?" she cried.  
"We won't. The difference between you and I, and him is that we are strong together, we're safe as long as we have each other. He's not going to get us, we're going to do this, okay?" he said sternly but softly.

"Okay." she sighed a sigh of relief and looked at Danny, "I'm just glad you're here."

"I always will be. Astra, on the other hand. Where will we go?" Danny asked.

"I don't know, somewhere with lakes, maybe even the beach, just to be safe, but keep driving Danny, just keep going.."

Soon she fell asleep which Danny could understand, she had a tough day, but Danny was wide awake, and always watching, always paranoid of when _it _would get to them. He turned the radio back on careful not to wake up Astra and listened to the worried parents of the children that went missing. It was going to be a long night.

Soon Danny came to a motel to stop for petrol. Astra was still fast asleep. He exited the car and started filling it up with petrol. He looked around and it seemed no one was there, he shrugged to himself and once he filled up the car he quickly walked into the store to pay for it, and buy some snacks. There was no one there, he went up to the counter and called, "Anyone there?" but there was no answer. He left a couple of dollars on the counter and lifted some drinks and snacks and turned to walk out when he saw the familiar face through the window. It was him. He was there, he had caught up to them. He ran, out of the store and into the car and started the engine as fast as he could not even looking back. He drove so fast that it woke Astra up.

"What's going on?" she cried, looking around frantically.  
"I stopped at the store and he was there he nearly got us," he wailed.

This time Danny didn't stop, he really did keep driving and soon Astra was asleep again, but this time Danny wouldn't stop driving for both their sakes, he wasn't going to let them get caught again. They were going to make it. Or were they?

**4**

Astra opened her eyes gradually to see sunlight beam through the misty car windows. She gasped and sat upright in the front car seat and looked at Danny, who looked exhausted.

"Good morning," he cheered with a effortless smile.

"Uh, good morning," she responded sleepily, "Danny, you weren't driving _all_ night were you?"

"Yes."

"But you mu-"

"I'm fine. Honestly, I wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway."

Astra sat for a moment, remembering her dream. She dreamt that everything that had ever happened with that pale terrorizing figure that had chased her for years was never in fact real. He was just from a silly story that was told to children to stop them from going into forests by themselves. She let out a dejected sigh and turned to Danny.

"Imagine, how our paths crossed so coincidently," she said.

"What, by some crazy monster thing chasing us?" he smirked.

"I guess so, I mean, I barely know you at all, yet I trust you, I don't know...I feel..safe with you Danny." she smiled meaningfully at him and he blushed in response.

"If I hadn't of had that dream in class. If I hadn't have been running from him in my dream. If he hadn't of got me and I never screamed at my teacher and got sent out of class…"

"If I never got chased to your school and saw you standing, I could have ran and left you when we saw him, but I didn't. I knew that you were going to be important."

"It's like that thing made this happen, so we would know each other."

"Like a game, a cruel game."

"But we're here now, we got away the first time and we can do it another time," he reassured her.

"Are you hungry?" he asked her.  
"Now that I think about it, yes!" she announced.

"Well, last night I grabbed some things from the store," he handed her some chocolate bars and a drink.

"Thanks, sorry for costing you money, if I had some I'd give you it back!" she said thoughtfully.  
"Sorry for costing me money? Don't say that. Food is a necessity. Also, I kinda got a discount." he rolled down his window a little.

"Really? How?"  
"The place was deserted," he paused. He felt a chill run up his spine. "There was no one there at all, then I saw him in the window,"

"I wonder where the staff went…"

"No idea, maybe he took them"

"Maybe he's planned everything out and he knows where we are right now, maybe we're never safe."

"Nothings safe anymore," sighed Danny.

**5**

8 months passed and Danny and Astra were still on the roads. They were always watching their backs and being careful even though they hadn't been bothered by the pale figure in 3 months. In their last contact Danny barely escaped with Astra, and hurt his leg on a sharp object he fell over while they were running away, it was still healing and quite sore. Though it had been a long time since they saw him, they continued to keep an eye out all the time. They noticed wherever they went there was a lack of people, like a large handful of them had disappeared.

"I think this is the end of it," cheered Astra.  
"I think so too, maybe all those missing people were enough to satisfy him, maybe we're off the hook," said Danny happily.

"Yeah,"

"I say we go to the beach tomorrow," he suggested.

"Oh I love the beach, and just in case, we're near the water!" she beamed.

"I don't think we need to worry," he said contently.  
"I'm not going to worry anymore, you're right,"

Danny and Astra did indeed go to the beach the next day, and had a great time too. They splashed in the water, and walked along the beach and collected shells. The day was great.

Another two months passed and there was still no sign of the pale man, things really were okay.

They had decided to go on a road trip to Canada, where Astra used to live. She said there was a nice place she knew about with a great community, she wanted to live with Danny. They had indeed became close friends and she felt extremely happy and safe with him.

They had been driving for about 3 days. Those 3 days were filled with deep conversations and relaxed atmospheres with each other. They listened to the cheesy country songs on the radio and sung along to them. Their lives had become very happy and would never be the same. Though they were always careful, they slowly got more and more relaxed as they started to build their lives up again, together.

Astra had been asleep for a while now.

_Folks, it's 6:32am, good morning to all you early birds! Our next request is up to you! Call in now to have your own song played at your own request!" _chanted the voice on the radio.

Danny checked his mirror out and noticed an un natural gathering of fog around the sides of the road. He also noticed they had been the only car on the road for the entire time they were driving. The next thing he knew he went hot and cold at the same time, his hands were sweating, he shivered and froze.  
"A...Astra.."

She moaned a little and turned over, awkwardly hugging her hoodie.

The radio started to grain away and buffer, and eventually cut of to a fuzzy noise. He switched it off with shaking hands. He caught a glimpse in his mirror of the vague nightmare from ten months ago. He started shaking and the car started the sway. Suddenly the car swerved and there was a crash. There was a loud shriek from Astra and crying. That was the last thing he remembered.

**6**

Hours later, Danny awoke to a sharp pain in his head.

"Can you hear me?" asked an abrupt voice.

"W...what…" he muttered. He felt a strong bright light being shone in his eyes and they were forced open. Through blurriness he saw a figure dressed in luminous colours and he noticed sirens flashing and cars around him. He was at the side of the road on a couple of blankets with medical teams around him and police cars.

"You were in a car crash. There are no major injuries you just hurt your head. You also have a bad slash on your leg. We'll get you fixed up okay?"  
"Where's Astra?" he sat up feeling a little dizzy. Looking around there had indeed been a car crash, and there were paramedics around him and police investigating the car, but no sign of Astra.

"Astra?" questioned the female paramedic.  
"The girl with me, she was beside me in the crash." he moaned.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but you were the only person in this crash. You bumped your head." she handed him a water bottle, "Here, you'll feel better."

"But.."

"You're very lucky that this man found you, you could have been in danger if he didn't."

Danny looked to see the man from the coffee shop that had scared Astra, standing peering over him with a gappy grin. Danny got a shiver.

"I'll leave you to talk with him for a while, we need to clean up. You're fine, you just needed some bandages, and your car is fine too. There is a dent in the side but it should be okay. You're fine to go, if you want we can escort you back to your home though, is there someone we should call?"

Danny was thankful that he looked older than eighteen though he was only sixteen. it would have sparked an awkward conversation if his missing parents came into this, and the fact that he ran out of school and was never seen again.

"No, thanks."

"Hello Danny," said the creepy guy from before.  
"How did you find me?"

"I don't know, I had a feeling that I should go to highway 57. So I did."

"You were from the coffee sho-"

"That's right. And I was right, he took your girl, next he will take you."

"Where did he take her?" he cried.

"The forest, _his_ forest."

"Where is it?"

"Germany, that's where he takes all of his victims." he laughed a horrible cackle at this as if it were funny.

"Does he chase you?"

"Nope, never has. You know why? Because I do him favours. He wants a child, so I bring him a child. It keeps him happy, so he doesn't take me, as long as I do things for him."

"That's sick."

"Wouldn't you do it, if it meant you would be safe?"

"We were safe."

"I told you that you weren't."  
"That was 10 months ago, why did he wait so long?"  
"He was toying you, he's smart like that." he cackled again.  
"Is there any chance I can save Astra?"

"Maybe, I always _give_ to him, never get though."

"Where is he in Germany?"

"Schwarzwald."

He thought for a second, "I'm going after her."

"He'll take you."

"I don't care, I want her to be safe."

"Good luck kid, you got nerves."

Danny didn't reply to this, instead he set out, after Astra.

Life on the road was different without her, and terrifying. Sometimes he wanted to give up and leave everything, but he knew he owed her something, his life. She saved him that day in school, she was the only person who knew about the pale man, and understood him, she meant everything to him these days and he wasn't about to lose her.

Danny suddenly felt a slimy wet tendril grip his shoulder..and everything went black.

**End of part 1. **

**;D **


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